Gnosis Ratings

Reviews:

Sjef Oellers 24-Feb-2001 Tammikuinen Tammela

Tammikuinen Tammela, the debut album by the Finnish band Uzva, is quite a revelation. It starts with a melancholic, almost chamber music-like piece with acoustic guitar, flute, and violin in the foreground. The drums give the track more of a rock feeling. My first impression was that of a more sedate and moody Finisterre (on In Limine). During the intro of the next track called "I", accordion brings a more folky element, but the rest of the track brings some lively music, sounding not unlike a less complex Samla Mammas Manna. Other comparisons that spring to mind are Noetra, Zypressen, and Flairck. Track "II" breaks the ten-minute mark and goes through lots of tempo and style changes. It starts with Noetra-like chamber rock and slowly develops into a percussion-led rock groove over which a clarinet solo is played. Finally the music moves into the Arti e Mestieri fusion domain. Very good. Track "IV" brings in medieval music, but the clarinet adds a somewhat jazzy flavour. The last track lasts 15 minutes and remains again rather quiet and melancholic for the first 8 minutes. Beautiful chamber rock with a folky/traditional edge. Surprising is the short intermezzo on steel pan drums bringing in an unexpected Caribbean touch. After this intermezzo the music takes off in the fusion direction with long guitar and clarinet solos. Overall, a very good album full of surprises, but occasionally the album still sounds a bit immature, i.e. some pieces have short sections that sound rather trivial and need improvement on the compositional side. Nevertheless, Uzva is a very promising band that delivered an excellent debut. Recommended!

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Sjef Oellers	24-Feb-2001	Tammikuinen Tammela
Tammikuinen Tammela, the debut album by the Finnish band Uzva, is quite a revelation. It starts with a melancholic, almost chamber music-like piece with acoustic guitar, flute, and violin in the foreground. The drums give the track more of a rock feeling. My first impression was that of a more sedate and moody Finisterre (on In Limine). During the intro of the next track called "I", accordion brings a more folky element, but the rest of the track brings some lively music, sounding not unlike a less complex Samla Mammas Manna. Other comparisons that spring to mind are Noetra, Zypressen, and Flairck. Track "II" breaks the ten-minute mark and goes through lots of tempo and style changes. It starts with Noetra-like chamber rock and slowly develops into a percussion-led rock groove over which a clarinet solo is played. Finally the music moves into the Arti e Mestieri fusion domain. Very good. Track "IV" brings in medieval music, but the clarinet adds a somewhat jazzy flavour. The last track lasts 15 minutes and remains again rather quiet and melancholic for the first 8 minutes. Beautiful chamber rock with a folky/traditional edge. Surprising is the short intermezzo on steel pan drums bringing in an unexpected Caribbean touch. After this intermezzo the music takes off in the fusion direction with long guitar and clarinet solos. Overall, a very good album full of surprises, but occasionally the album still sounds a bit immature, i.e. some pieces have short sections that sound rather trivial and need improvement on the compositional side. Nevertheless, Uzva is a very promising band that delivered an excellent debut. Recommended!
Links for further information